Wednesday, September 30, 2015

We
all thought it was a miracle when the Badgers beat Kentucky in the
Final Four. Legislators – both Republican and Democrat – couldn’t wait
to honor the University of Wisconsin
basketball team. But, the real miracles are happening in the labs at
UW, at the Weisman Center, at Research Park, and across Wisconsin. The
same Republicans who clamored to have their picture taken with Sam
Dekker and Nigel Hayes are now advancing Assembly
Bill 305, which would shut down biomedical research and destroy the
miracles that will come in curing or treating devastating diseases.

Deadly,
debilitating diseases don’t care if you’re liberal or conservative. The
hyper-politicization of biomedical research threatens future
life-saving medical advancements. We’ve
all benefited, or will benefit at some point in our lives, from the
advances reaped from this research. The polio vaccine is just one
example of this. I for one want my loved ones to be able to access every
possible option should they become ill and for scientists
to rely on the best research avenues available.

Wisconsin
has a long history of innovative research and is an internationally
recognized leader in biomedical research. Since its inception, 11 UW
faculty members have received
the National Medal of Science Award, described as “the nation’s highest
honor for achievement and leadership in science and technology.” Right
here, James Thompson derived the first human embryonic stem cell line in
1998, and is credited with redefining biomedicine.
The current climate in Wisconsin threatens to tarnish that reputation.

The
University of Wisconsin attracts top researchers from all over the
world, as well as undergraduate and graduate students who are drawn to
the university because of its biomedical
research. The UW is literally educating the next generation of
scientists. We stand to lose some of the best current and future
scientists in the world.

But
this life-saving research isn’t just being done at the UW. It’s being
done in private businesses across the state – bioscience accounts for
over 100,000 private sector jobs
and has an economic impact of $27 billion a year. It’s also being done
at Madison College, which just received a $661,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation for their stem cell technology and
regenerative medicine program.

We
need to treat our scientists as the heroes that they are rather than
creating a climate that is not supportive of research. These individuals
are entrusted with one of the most
important objectives. Advances on treatment for end-stage breast
cancer, cardiac disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy,
blindness, diabetes, asthma, and immune disorders, multiple sclerosis,
and neurodegenerative diseases have all been made possible
by biomedical research.

I’ve
been a state representative for 4 years, and unlike some of my
colleagues, it seems, I know when I need to listen to the experts. One
such expert is Professor Alta Charo, a
leading authority on bioethics who just happens to on the faculty at UW
Law School and UW Medical School. Professor Charo had this to say in
her recent article in the prominent New England Journal of Medicine: “We
have a duty to “tak[e] advantage of avenues
of hope for current and future patients…This attack represents a
betrayal of the people whose lives could be saved by the research and a
violation of that most fundamental duty of medicine and health policy,
the duty of care.” And policy makers have the duty
to advance policies that give hope to improving people’s lives, not
bills like AB 305 that shut down lifesaving research that will save a
sick child’s life.

PP was not mentioned, no, but what's so notable about a woman working for an organization that promotes and provides women's healthcare? This legislation is not going to hurt PP, but it will hurt a lot of current and future sick people. The big prize, of course, is the further bankrupting of the state's economy, in particular the hated University of Wisconsin. Perhaps the real agenda?